


A Broken Leg and a Dust-Covered Heart

by felypsa



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Uncanny Avengers
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 02:44:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14126376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felypsa/pseuds/felypsa
Summary: Pietro's recovering from the broken leg Ultron gave him. He's entirely alone...until Emily comes by to help.





	A Broken Leg and a Dust-Covered Heart

The knock on the open hospital room door was not unexpected, but it wasn’t exactly welcome either.

Pietro’s body tensed up automatically. “I’m _fine,_ Rogue,” he grated out, refusing to look at her. “My body heals fast, you know that, so—”

“Sure, but you could use a _little_ help, right?”

He whipped his head toward the threshold. It wasn’t Rogue, as he’d anticipated, coming to lecture him about running off too quickly with Ultron, but Synapse, dressed down in civilian clothing. She leaned against the doorway, a purse dangling off her shoulder, and regarded Pietro with a knowing grin. “I mean, I _could_ use my telepathy to give your immune system a boost, but if you’re already _fine_ …”

His whole body relaxed, and he leaned back on the hospital bed with a lazy smirk. Emily was _much_ more preferable company to Rogue right now. “Well, since you made the trip all the way here—the painstakingly slow, plodding trip, I’m sure—you might as well do what you came here to do.” 

“The subway is _not_ that bad,” Emily retorted as she pushed herself off the wall and walked toward him. 

Pietro rolled his head to the side to give her a _look._ “Compared to traveling with _me_ …”

She snorted as she pulled up a visitor’s chair close to the side of the bed. “Compared to that, I can breathe more easily, because it’s at a nice normal speed. _But,_ I will concede, the air I’m breathing in is much stinkier on the subway.” She set her purse down and held out her hand expectantly.

“So you’re saying you think I smell nice?” His smirk widened as he slid his hand into hers. On occasion, he’d found it easy to flirt with Emily, knowing that it was perfectly harmless, since she’d made it clear from the get-go that she wasn’t interested in dating anyone on the team (per Steve Rogers’ overcautious advice).

She arched an eyebrow as she squeezed his hand. “I’m saying you smell _slightly_ better than the _eau de Manhattan_ blend of unwashed masses. I wouldn’t take that as much of a compliment if I were you.” 

He chortled quietly, already feeling better even before she began her immune system trick. He’d been left mostly alone in the Metropolitan Hospital Center while the rest of the team went to _space_ to deal with Ultron, and he’d been helpless when the shocking news of Bruce Banner’s death came in. The only company Pietro had were his own thoughts, and those were…not always pleasant, and not always reliable. Time had passed strangely for him while his leg healed, his mind in a fog while his body screamed at him to run, run, _run._

And running was the one thing he could not do.

Emily’s hand was cool, but it warmed quickly in his. Her eyes were open, but she was not focused on him, and her forehead was furrowed in concentration. Pietro couldn’t immediately see or feel what she was doing, but he knew it had to be helping. He shifted his healing leg slightly and winced. The one problem of having a fast metabolism was that drugs went through him like water; painkillers lasted so briefly that they were mostly useless. He could feel _everything_ right now.

When he flinched, Emily blinked rapidly a few times, coming out of her trance. Her frown was one of worry. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, no.” He squeezed her hand and smiled reassuringly. “That was my fault. I moved when I shouldn’t have. I am just—as I’m sure you can imagine— _impatient_ to be on my feet again.” 

“You? Impatient? Never.” Her sarcasm was softened by her returning smile, gentle and concerned. “I am sure it must be terrible for you. If something happened where I couldn’t use my own brain for some reason, I’d go crazy. In more than one way, I mean.”

Pietro nodded, his gaze dropping to their joined hands. “To have power and strength in something that you take pride in…and then to have it stripped away…it is the most maddening pain you can imagine.” As much as he tried not to let his thoughts wander to certain dark events of his past, it was as if something inside of him _wanted_ him to remember those parts of himself he loathed most. This injury was just one broken leg, and yet…he remembered when he couldn’t run fast at all. When he was just as slow as everybody else. And back then, he had deserved that misery and more…

“Pietro?” 

He blinked and lifted his gaze to Emily’s, and he quickly gave a small, apologetic smile. “Forgive me. I just want to get better so I can help the team again.” 

She placed her other hand on top of his. “You will,” she said earnestly. “And I’ll help you get there. We’re all better off when you’re _healthy_ and with us, Pietro. I’ll make sure you won’t have to endure this for much longer.” 

Something in his heart stirred, something that had been quiet for a very long time, now rising up and starting to shake off layers and layers of dust. He felt it happen, but steered clear of it, not wanting to give it much attention. “That’s all I want, Emily. To be there for you…” He swallowed and added, “For the Avengers.”

She gave a soft chuckle. “Good. Because this team wouldn’t be the same without you.” Her lips curled into a sly smirk. “And don’t forget that, no matter what Rogue says to you. She might be upset that you ran ahead, but…it comes from a place of caring.”

Pietro scoffed. “Rogue has always had a funny way of showing her _caring.”_

“That’s true. But…” Emily’s smirk widened. “I may have read her mind when she was talking about it. She was frustrated, but only because she was worried.”

He could not help but laugh out loud. “Reading Rogue’s mind? Now _that_ is something I know she doesn’t love.”

Emily shrugged. “She already doesn’t love that I’m Inhuman, so I figured I’d take the risk.” 

Despite her cavalier tone, Pietro sensed her uncertainty. Rogue hadn’t been the most welcoming of Emily in the beginning, though she had long since proved her worth by _now._ His gaze dropped back to their joined hands. “It’s been rough for mutants. But you know that.” He shifted his posture again to ease some pressure off his leg, leaning closer to Emily in the process. “You are more than your Inhuman genes, Emily. I _know_ many Inhumans. Not all of them have as pure and compassionate a soul as yours.”

Emily’s lips parted in a smile, her teeth pulling back her lower lip. “That’s very sweet of you to say, Pietro. And one of these days I’ll have to pick your brain about those Inhuman royals you used to hang out with.”

He glanced away with an uncomfortable chuckle. “One of these days. It’s not all glamorous, I’m afraid.”

“I believe it. I’d rather not be a part of that world myself.” She let out a small sigh. “I’m going to try giving you a boost again. Let’s see what we can get done by this afternoon.” 

Her hand squeezed his again, and this time, Pietro was certain he felt _something_ …some energy flowing from her, through their shared connection, through his rapidly beating heart. That old, quiet, dusty thing loomed ever larger in his consciousness. He took advantage of Emily’s concentration on her telepathy to gaze at her features, taking in the full effect of her intelligent dark eyes, the pretty mouth that was capable of such kind smiles, the elegant shape of her face revealed by the hair she always had pulled back in that signature long braid.

He swallowed tightly and closed his eyes. She could help him heal in more ways than one…but not today. Already he took hold of that stirring feeling and buried it back down. Whatever it was, whatever it meant…there was no time for it now. 

And he was not yet worthy of its return. 

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a very brief scene in Uncanny Avengers #14, which mainly existed to establish that the Red Skull was lowkey mind-controlling Pietro (which is why his thoughts are particularly dark and self-loathing here, because Red Skull loved manipulating people's fears and insecurities like the fine upstanding citizen he is). I always wished there was more actual build-up to the reveal that Pietro was crushing on Emily; it pretty much came out of nowhere, although I can personally see why they'd be a good match. And it's been so long since Pietro felt anything romantic for anyone other than Crystal...he deserves this moment of self-reflection, imo.


End file.
